The United Nations and international aid agencies are warning that the lives of millions of people in Sudan are at risk as the world turns its attention away from the enormous humanitarian needs facing the war-torn country. Today, Sudan entered a year of war that many have called the world's largest human-made crisis, with half the population in need of life-saving assistance, tens of thousands killed and injured, and millions uprooted from their homes.
At a high-level pledging conference in Paris on Monday, funding promises reached half of the more than US$4 billion needed in Sudan and its neighboring countries this year. The "International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and Neighboring Countries" was co-hosted by the European Union, France and Germany.
Nearly half of the pledges were made by the European Union (EU). The European Commission today pledged US$377 million (€355 million) in both humanitarian and development funding for Sudan and its neighbors. Together with pledges from EU member states, this brings the total EU support for Sudan promised at the conference to US$952 million (€896 million).
“The world is forgetting about the people of Sudan”, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres Monday, speaking to reporters in New York. “Today marks a heartbreaking milestone — one year since the start of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.”
Fighting in Sudan broke out on April 15, 2023, sparked by a power struggle between two rival generals. Aid agencies say the war is having catastrophic consequences for a population of nearly 49 million people - more than half of whom, 24.8 million, are in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance. Among those in need are more than 14 million children.
Since April last year, more than 8.8 million people have been displaced - some 6.8 million within Sudan and 2 million as refugees in neighboring countries. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 20,000 people, half of them children, are forced to flee their homes every day in Sudan.
At least 1.8 million have fled across borders into neighboring South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Egypt and the Central African Republic. South Sudan has received the largest number of people from Sudan - nearly 640,000 - many of them South Sudanese returning after many years. Chad has seen the largest influx of refugees in its history, with more than 570,000 people crossing its border.
In total, some 12 million people are now displaced by conflict in Sudan, including more than 9.5 million within the country, making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis in the world and one of the two largest displacement crises in the world, alongside the Syrian war.
“This is more than a conflict between two warring parties. It is a war being waged on the Sudanese people. It is a war on the many thousands of civilians who have been killed, and tens of thousands maimed for life,” Guterres said.
More than 15,000 people have been killed and an estimated 33,000 injured in the war. The death toll is likely to be much higher. Between April and June last year, up to 15,000 people were killed in ethnically motivated mass atrocities in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state alone.
“It is a war on the 18 million people facing acute hunger, and the communities now staring down the terrifying threat of famine in the months ahead. It is a war on villages, homes, hospitals, schools and vital systems that have been reduced to rubble in conflict hotspots. And it is a war on human rights and international humanitarian law,” he added.
Sudan could soon become the world's worst hunger crisis, with nearly 18 million people suffering from acute hunger, including 5 million on the brink of famine. Famine is expected to hit the country by 2024, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions and in Khartoum and Al-Jazira states.
At least 3.5 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, including more than 700,000 who are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and require specialized, continuous life-saving treatment.
Approximately 65 percent of the population lacks access to health care, and between 70 and 80 percent of hospitals in conflict-affected areas are no longer functional.
As of April, more than 11,000 suspected cases of cholera, including 305 deaths, have been reported from 11 states, according to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Other disease outbreaks continue in several states, including measles, malaria, and dengue fever.
With most schools across the country closed or struggling to reopen, a staggering 19 million school-age children are at risk of losing their education.
Without a cessation of fighting and unimpeded humanitarian access, the crisis is expected to worsen dramatically in the coming months and could spread throughout the region. Half of Sudan's states are inaccessible from inside Sudan. Darfur and Kordofan are inaccessible and cut off from humanitarian assistance.
Due to insecurity, access constraints and lack of funding, humanitarian agencies have reached only 2.3 million people with life-saving assistance inside the country, out of 14.7 million people targeted for assistance this year.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia began fighting on April 15 last year, each seeking to control the country. The two sides have made it nearly impossible for aid agencies and supplies to reach civilians.
“Indiscriminate attacks that are killing, injuring and terrorizing civilians could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Aid convoys have been targeted. Humanitarian personnel and warehouses have been attacked. Women and girls are subject to rampant sexual violence,” Guterres said.
The Secretary-General said the latest reports of escalating hostilities in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, “are a fresh cause for deep alarm”.
Over the weekend, RSF-affiliated militias attacked and burned villages west of the town, leading to widespread new displacement and fears of a takeover of El Fasher. Fighting continued today on the outskirts of the town. Counterattacks have resulted in more deaths and injuries.
“Let me be clear: Any attack on El Fasher would be devastating for civilians and could lead to full-blown intercommunal conflict across Darfur,” Guterres said.
“It would also upend aid operations in an area already on the brink of famine, since El Fasher has always been a critical UN humanitarian hub,” he added, stressing that all parties to the conflict must facilitate the safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian personnel and supplies through all available routes into El Fasher.
“We must do all we can to ensure maximum humanitarian assistance in Darfur and elsewhere,” he said. “The Sudanese people desperately need the support and generosity of the global community to help them through this nightmare.”
The 2024 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) seeks US$2.7 billion from donors to provide life-saving assistance and protection to 14.7 million people in desperate need. As of April 14, the 2024 HNRP was only 5.8 percent funded. At the same time, the $1.4 billion Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) for the Sudan Crisis was only 7 percent funded before today’s pledging conference.
“But the Sudanese people need more than humanitarian support. They need an end to the bloodshed. They need peace,” Guterres said. “The only path out of this horror is a political solution.”
He urged for a “concerted global push” for a ceasefire in Sudan followed by a comprehensive peace process, noting that the UN envoy to Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, was working tirelessly to mediate more talks between the rival generals.
Lamamra's efforts included meetings with leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as leaders from the Horn of Africa and the Gulf region, the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the League of Arab States, and key UN member states.
“Coordinated international efforts will be essential to amplify joint action”, Guterres said.
“I will not relent in my calls for all parties to silence the guns, and meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people for a peaceful and secure future.”